Military organizations
are complex tools of statecraft. This course examines the role that military
force plays in U.S. foreign policy, and the capacity of the Army, Air Force,
Navy, and Marines to execute that policy. We will also study the
administrative, budget, and procurement aspects of defense policy. Students
should expect to gain familiarity with the key military policy issues that
confront government officials, and to become able to evaluate the claims of
journalists and advocacy organizations that confront informed American opinion.

Format

Student
discussion will take up the bulk of class time. I expect everyone to
attend, have studied the readings, and have a familiarity with current
events. Any major reputable newspaper will suffice for the latter, although
I prefer the New York Times.

Grading

Grading will
be based on class participation (20%), class blog participation (10%), and
three 4-6 page memos (15% each) and one final examination (25%).

Each student
is required to post at least once to the class blog, defensestatecraft.blogspot.com, in each of five weeks
during the course of the semester. The idea of the blog is to promote
serious discussions of the readings and of current events tied to military
statecraft. I will monitor blog postings and assign a grade based on quantity
and quality of participation. Postings should specifically integrate the
material from class readings and extend class debates.

Each of the
three 4-6 page memos must be typed and double-spaced. Please do not
exceed the page limit. The point of the assignment is to present
information in a cogent and concise manner. The topic is up to you, but
ideally will concern the convergence of a current event or situation with assigned
reading from the class day in question. Memos are due at the beginning of
class on the day of the relevant reading. You will be expected to turn in
one memo during each third of the course. Thus, the last day for turning
in your first memo is February 16, and the first day for turning in your last
memo is March 30.

You will be
required to make an oral presentation and defense of one memo during
class. You must indicate to me a preference for which week to present by
the second week of the course, such that I can stagger presentations. The
presentation should last about fifteen minutes, and will be followed by a
fifteen minute question and answer period. The presentation will make up
50% of your participation grade, or 10% of the total grade.

The memos
will be evaluated on both content and presentation. Information must be
accurate, arguments must be well thought out, and style must be
compelling.

Class Materials

Purchase of
the following books is recommended, but not required.

Stephen Biddle, Military Power:
Explaining Victory and Defeat in Modern Battle. Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 2004